How many Depositories are registered with SEBI?
At present two Depositories viz. National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (I) Limited (CDSL) are registered with SEBI.

What is a Depository

A depository is an entity which holds securities of investors in electronic form at the request of the investors through a registered Depository participant. It also provides services related to transactions in securities based on instructions given by the investors to depository participant.

How many Depositories are registered with SEBI?
At present two Depositories viz. National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (I) Limited (CDSL) are registered with SEBI.

Who is a depository participant?
A depository participant is a person or entity, which is registered with depositories such as NSDL and/or CDSL as also with SEBI and who offers services of holding your shares and effecting transfer (accepting credits in your account as well transferring shares from your account to that of some one else based on your instructions). Thus a depository participant acts as a custodian of your securities held in dematerialized or fungible form and carries out your instruction to transfer the same.

Is it compulsory for every investor to open a depository account to trade in the capital market?
Around 99.9% of the securities settlement takes place in dematerialized mode. Therefore, in view of the convenience in settlement through dematerialized mode, it is advisable to have a beneficiary owner (BO) account to trade at the exchanges and to hold the securities.

How are transfers made by DP?
DPs issue Delivery Instruction Slips (or DIS) to all account holders. These are like cheque leaves. Whenever you want to transfer shares from your account to another account, you are required to fill the relevant details such as security identification number, number of shares you want to transfer, date of transfer, account to which shares need to be transferred etc. and submit this slip to your DP. The DP would then affect the transfer. You can give standing instructions to your DP for all credits to your account, whereby you need not give instructions to your DP each and every time for accepting credit to your account.

A depository participant is a person or entity, which is registered with depositories such as NSDL and/or CDSL as also with SEBI and who offers services of holding your shares and effecting transfer (accepting credits in your account as well transferring shares from your account to that of some one else based on your instructions). Thus a depository participant acts as a custodian of your securities held in dematerialized or fungible form and carries out your instruction to transfer the same.
Around 99.9% of the securities settlement takes place in dematerialized mode. Therefore, in view of the convenience in settlement through dematerialized mode, it is advisable to have a beneficiary owner (BO) account to trade at the exchanges and to hold the securities.

Surrender certificates for dematerialisation to your depository participant.
Depository participant intimates Depository (NSDL or CDSL) of the request through the system.
Depository participant submits the certificates to the registrar of the Issuer Company.
Registrar confirms the dematerialisation request from depository.
After dematerialising the certificates, Registrar updates accounts and informs depository of the completion of dematerialisation.
Depository updates its accounts and informs the depository participant.
Depository participant updates the demat account of the investor.

In order to dematerialise physical securities held by an investor, he has to fill in a DRF (Demat Request Form) which is available with the DP and submit the same along with physical share certificates one wishes to dematerialise. Separate DRF has to be filled for each ISIN Number. The complete process of dematerialisation is outlined below:
Surrender certificates for dematerialisation to your depository participant.
Depository participant intimates Depository (NSDL or CDSL) of the request through the system.
Depository participant submits the certificates to the registrar of the Issuer Company.
Registrar confirms the dematerialisation request from depository.
After dematerialising the certificates, Registrar updates accounts and informs depository of the completion of dematerialisation.
Depository updates its accounts and informs the depository participant.
Depository participant updates the demat account of the investor.
What is an ISIN?
ISIN (International Securities Identification Number) is a unique identification number for a security. India follows the norms stipulates by Association of National Numbering Agency (ANNA) which is the international body for issue of ISINs. National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) issues ISINs in India and a complete list of ISINs is available on their website: www.nsdl.co.in. Also note that ISIN of a security changes in case of certain corporate action such as split in share par value, consolidation of share capital etc. Hence you have to quote the correct ISIN at the time of giving dematerialisation request as well as at the time of transfer of shares.

Do dematerialised shares have distinctive numbers?
Unlike physical shares, dematerialised shares do not have any distinctive numbers. These shares are fungible, which means that all the holdings of a particular security will be identical and interchangeable.

Each unit of these schemes reflects the share of investor in the respective fund and its appreciation is judged by the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the scheme. The NAV is directly linked to the bullish and bearish trends of the markets as the pooled money is invested either inequity shares or in debentures or treasury bills. Indian Mutual Funds unveils this multi-dimensional avenue, with its intricacies, in a fashionable manner as mutual funds up-hold ample scope of generating decent returns by some thoughtful investment.

Background of the Art
Mutual fund units and shares are purchased through a broker or directly from the mutual fund. The mutual fund and purchaser decide for themselves whether they wish to deal through brokers or deal directly without a broker. In this description, the term “portions” will be used to refer to all shares or units in a mutual fund, as those terms are defined by established practice with. For the purposes of the invention, whether a mutual fund is structured to distribute shares or units is irrelevant since the method is applied to each type of holding in the same way.

One means of providing brokers with compensation involves a mutual fund selling scheme known as “front end loaded” where the broker is given a commission based on a percentage of the total price of portions purchased. For example, if a purchaser wishes to purchase 100 portions of $10 value each, the up-front purchase price paid is $1050 of which $1000 is invested in the mutual fund and $50 commission or 5% service fee goes to the broker.

Another compensation scheme is known as “back end loaded” or “deferred sales charge”. Deferred sales operate in a manner which effectively hides the compensation to the mutual fund broker from the purchaser. Following the same example, the up-front price paid by the purchaser for the same purchase (100 portions at $10 each) is $1000. However, the broker is paid a service fee of $50 or 5% immediately by the mutual fund. To pay the broker, the mutual fund must borrow the $50 and mutual funds initially operate at a deficit for this reason until they become well established. Of course there are various provisions to penalize purchasers if they wish to sell their portions before a period after the initial sale to recoup the broker service fee, mutual fund management expenses and discourage migration of capital. For example, a penalty of 6% may be charged for sales of mutual fund portions in the first year after purchase, 5% the second year, 4% the third year and so on. The purchaser does not readily perceive the cost of the broker service fees but due to the severely reduced liquidity of their mutual fund investment and monetary penalties, this cost is incurred never-the-less.

Rules for investing in mutual funds
Be a long-term investor
You should have a long term horizon. Short-term trading will make brokers rich and not investors and the income tax department will also be happy. Mutual funds are diversified and therefore, their gains and losses are likely to be lower than what it would be in case you are investing in an individual security. However, major fluctuations are highly uncommon in mutual funds. So what make sense is to leave your capital in a mutual fund for a long time and let it compound. So the key point is Buy and Hold. It also requires to you do a reality check on yourselves so that you can define your goals and priorities before entering the market.

Start Early
When you invest in the market is more important than the market timing. Always enter the market with long term thinking. Do proper researches before investing set your priorities and goals, ascertain your risk profile. Also very importantly you should keep yourself abreast with the daily market news. One should not do impulsive purchase allowing emotions overpowering the sense of reason.

Women can follow the stock market with the help of internet connection as everything is there online. There are many websites informing all the information needed for trading. You can invest wisely and follow the market properly. As women by nature are cautious by nature, so they are perfectly alright for the stock market trading conditions. You should have up-to-date knowledge with the latest social, political, domestic and international news so that you do not make any mistakes take financial decision at the right time. Those women who start investing at the earliest they will observe that they can gather large fortune if the trends in the stock market are their favor. You should start with small investments and if all goes well make more investments.

Try to take small risks so that you gain profits. Always buy and hold stocks and shares of excellent companies for long period and try to make short-term profits depending upon the market response. You should try to have wide asset allocation. This means that you should spread money wisely and do not keep your eggs in one basket. With right decisions women can invest properly and make huge gains.

Many women have looked at their household products and have made profit. For instance, when scotch bright was first introduced in the market, they searched the company that had introduced it and invested in that company. The product was success and they gained from it. Look properly and be aware of the latest trend and you will surely gain from it.

Background of the Art
Mutual fund units and shares are purchased through a broker or directly from the mutual fund. The mutual fund and purchaser decide for themselves whether they wish to deal through brokers or deal directly without a broker. In this description, the term “portions” will be used to refer to all shares or units in a mutual fund, as those terms are defined by established practice with. For the purposes of the invention, whether a mutual fund is structured to distribute shares or units is irrelevant since the method is applied to each type of holding in the same way. One means of providing brokers with compensation involves a mutual fund selling scheme known as “front end loaded” where the broker is given a commission based on a percentage of the total price of portions purchased. For example, if a purchaser wishes to purchase 100 portions of $10 value each, the up-front purchase price paid is $1050 of which $1000 is invested in the mutual fund and $50 commission or 5% service fee goes to the broker.
Another compensation scheme is known as “back end loaded” or “deferred sales charge”. Deferred sales operate in a manner which effectively hides the compensation to the mutual fund broker from the purchaser. Following the same example, the up-front price paid by the purchaser for the same purchase (100 portions at $10 each) is $1000. However, the broker is paid a service fee of $50 or 5% immediately by the mutual fund. To pay the broker, the mutual fund must borrow the $50 and mutual funds initially operate at a deficit for this reason until they become well established. Of course there are various provisions to penalize purchasers if they wish to sell their portions before a period after the initial sale to recoup the broker service fee, mutual fund management expenses and discourage migration of capital. For example, a penalty of 6% may be charged for sales of mutual fund portions in the first year after purchase, 5% the second year, 4% the third year and so on. The purchaser does not readily perceive the cost of the broker service fees but due to the severely reduced liquidity of their mutual fund investment and monetary penalties, this cost is incurred never-the-less.

Rules for investing in mutual funds
Be a long-term investor
You should have a long term horizon. Short-term trading will make brokers rich and not investors and the income tax department will also be happy. Mutual funds are diversified and therefore, their gains and losses are likely to be lower than what it would be in case you are investing in an individual security. However, major fluctuations are highly uncommon in mutual funds. So what make sense is to leave your capital in a mutual fund for a long time and let it compound. So the key point is Buy and Hold. It also requires to you do a reality check on yourselves so that you can define your goals and priorities before entering the market.

Start Early
When you invest in the market is more important than the market timing. Always enter the market with long term thinking. Do proper researches before investing set your priorities and goals, ascertain your risk profile. Also very importantly you should keep yourself abreast with the daily market news. One should not do impulsive purchase allowing emotions overpowering the sense of reason.

Know yourself and then What You Are Buying
The first step towards achieving your goals would be to know yourself, your risk appetite and accordingly make the investments. Once you have discovered yourself, explore the market and find out the kind of funds available in the market. Firstly, get a hang on the style and strategy followed by a fund by reading the available material. This will help in diversifying the portfolio and also in assessing potential risks. In general, large-cap value funds are less risky than small-cap growth funds.

Be A Disciplined Investor
Once you’ve chosen some funds, you may stick with them. It is not necessary that one should always go with the tide. Even the unpopular groups tend to outperform in subsequent years. Investing a regular amount of money at regular intervals may add a good value to your portfolio. Make a systematic investment plan which in all probability likely to offer reasonable returns.

Know How Much You Pay
There is one famous saying that Money saved is money earned. So it’s always better to pay less than it is to pay more. Expenses are very important with your larger-cap, lower-risk funds, and less critical with small-cap funds and other higher-risk categories. You can afford to be lenient with the expense of a small-cap or a sector equity fund. Actually, the strength of the mutual fund lies in its simplicity. Don’t follow the bandwagon

Through the internet the companies list their stocks in the stock exchange. The stock exchange want to list maximum number of companies in their exchange as it makes it possible to get good returns if more companies are listed in the exchange. Buying stocks of any company and keeping them for a long time will be profitable for you if the company makes profit.
In any particular exchange the companies’ get a trading symbol, this symbol is known as a ticker. When you know the ticker of a company you can get important details about the company. The exchange gives all the information about the company and you get to know the details of the company from exchange.

You have many tools on the internet that helps you to make a sound decision regarding your investment. You have to plan your tactics properly, for this you can use both technical analysis as well as fundamental analysis pal according to your rational thinking. The long-term investor should plan the trading using technical analysis, but the short-term trader should use fundamental analysis. Historic research is done in technical analysis and it views the long-term prospects. Daily movement is not taken into consideration. On the other hand, fundamental analysis is a daily analysis and short-term trader will benefit from it. Study these analyses and then invest wisely.

Many other Stock exchanges are also there in India, but they are small fish compared to these two large stock exchange. The demat account opened by the broker makes it possible for the investor not to actually visit the stock exchange, All the latest updates are given in the news and is also available online. The share certificates are now in form of virtual share certificates, these share certificates exist in actual database and not in physically. Those who are interested in buying and selling of the shares do so with the help of these demat accounts. They can buy and sell shares online sitting in their homes. Many important companies have taken a plunge in this type of brokerage. It has made possible for ordinary Indians to buy stocks and sell stocks without actually having to visit the Stock exchanges. The process offered by them is simple and transparent those who have little extra money also can invest through this type of account

How can one convert physical holding into electronic holding i.e how can one dematerialise securities?

In order to dematerialise physical securities held by an investor, he has to fill in a DRF (Demat Request Form) which is available with the DP and submit the same along with physical share certificates one wishes to dematerialise. Separate DRF has to be filled for each ISIN Number. The complete process of dematerialisation is outlined below:

# Surrender certificates for dematerialisation to your depository participant.
# Depository participant intimates Depository (NSDL or CDSL) of the request through the system.
# Depository participant submits the certificates to the registrar of the Issuer Company.
# Registrar confirms the dematerialisation request from depository.
# After dematerialising the certificates, Registrar updates accounts and informs depository of the completion of dematerialisation.
# Depository updates its accounts and informs the depository participant.
# Depository participant updates the demat account of the investor.

What is an ISIN?
ISIN (International Securities Identification Number) is a unique identification number for a security. India follows the norms stipulates by Association of National Numbering Agency (ANNA) which is the international body for issue of ISINs. National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) issues ISINs in India and a complete list of ISINs is available on their website: www.nsdl.co.in. Also note that ISIN of a security changes in case of certain corporate action such as split in share par value, consolidation of share capital etc. Hence you have to quote the correct ISIN at the time of giving dematerialisation request as well as at the time of transfer of shares.